Members of the South Forsyth High School War Eagle Marching Band will kick off the 2011 season with a special event Saturday.

The group will hold a march-a-thon to raise money for the upcoming season.

Director Paul Clark said the nearly 90-member band will march and play for more than six miles.

"We’ll start at Sharon Forks library, turn onto Old Atlanta Road for a little bit and then turn left onto Windermere Parkway and go all the way into Chattahoochee River Club," he said. "It’s a good way, about 6.4 miles."

Throughout the trek, which will begin at 9 a.m. and end about 1 p.m., the band will play music from this year’s halftime show, "Presto."

"It’s all things magical and magic show-related," Clark said. "We’ll even be doing some magic tricks on the [football] field. We’ll make a girl disappear and reappear.

"The kids are working really hard to make the show a success."

The program will debut during South’s first home football game on Aug. 26, when the War Eagles welcome Forsyth Central.

Saturday’s march-a-thon will also feature a number of South Forsyth fight songs.

"We stop in the several of neighborhoods along the route and play cheer songs to get everyone’s spirit going," Clark said.

The march wasn’t held last year, but had been an annual event for about four years prior.

"It’s our largest fundraiser out in the community," Clark said. "We want to see a lot of people out there cheering us on."

Parents pass around buckets for donations along the route, and supporters can also pledge donations for each mile marched on the band’s Web site.

Despite the long trek, including something he called "heart attack hill," Clark said the students are excited.

"We take a lot of breaks along the way and there’s a big pool party celebration at the end, so they all look forward to that," he said.